I was using N-track (version 3 I think) while saving up the cash I needed for an RME soundcard.
What a complete pain in the ass.
First, the program's "snap to grid" function was on by default. Not covered by the piss-poor online manual, I wasted weekends trying to find an answer to a problem that could've been solved by unchecking a box. Or better yet-avoided completely had the program been issued with such features turned off.
The editing completely and totally sucks as described above. Playback was full of errors and jitters on only eight tracks which made me question the stability of my new computer and the onboard soundcard when in truth it was the program itself.
When I finally got my RME soundcard, thankfully bundled with Samplitude, the difference in quality was huge: Samplitude has it's own little annoyances, but it basically works right out of the gate, with only one single hiccup in its two year stay in my pc. The few odd times I used it in conjunction with the onboard soundcard have been very smooth.
True, you get what you paid for, but I feel I paid $45 for the opportunity to fuck around with hack software during what little time I have to devote to recording music.